{"id":36521,"date":"2026-09-20T08:00:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T08:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=36521"},"modified":"2026-09-18T17:59:46","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T17:59:46","slug":"ugly-mug-issue-nine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2026\/09\/20\/ugly-mug-issue-nine\/","title":{"rendered":"Ugly Mug Issue Nine"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nBy many and various anonymous aligned to The House of Harley<\/strong>, but particularly including Julian Geek<\/strong>, Denny Derbyshire<\/strong>, Ed Pinsent<\/strong>, Alberto Monteiro<\/strong>, John Bagnall<\/strong>, Dave Kilburn<\/strong>, Miranda Smart<\/strong>, Adam Falp<\/strong> & various (House of Harley)
\nISBN: 978-1-0669144-1 (A4 Card cover TPB)<\/p>\n

In these, my elderly end-times, a year goes by just like 365\u00bc days, which means that (notionally) I only have to blink or slip into a brief nap\/coma for something fun or welcoming to pop up. Of course that can apply to nasty stuff too, but that is SO NOT the case here…<\/em><\/p>\n

Comics can be a billion dollar business these days, but thankfully remains at its heart & soul a form of expression all about doing something creative for people to react to. Hopefully, they\u2019ll be appreciative and give you lots of money and offer to have your babies… or at least try to swindle you out of your rights. That latter one\u2019s not actually so bad, as it does mean you\u2019re doing something others appreciate…<\/p>\n

What I crave – and can now revel in again – is the latest extravaganza from unchecked artistic iconoclasterers The House of Harley<\/em>; who have completed one more supercharged, in-your-facial-area assemblage of stories, cartoons, thoughts and even characters from people who don\u2019t care if pastors complain, Mumsnet worries or The Telegraph<\/strong> pitches a disingenuous, profit-seeking hissy-fit. Self-chained to this fertile, dynamic pictorial coalface are folk who would draw strips and tell tales even if the act carried the threat of exile, death penalty or mandatory Ed Sheeran tickets. They go on concocting and unleashing the sort of word-wedded images the industry and art form continually refreshes, renews and reinvents itself with.<\/p>\n

Every year since they started, shady, covert Art-Quango The House of Harley has unleashed an annual (well duh!) anthological aggregation of short stories, poster-works, diagrammatic diatribes and tableaux, augmented by further exploits of ongoing made-up individuals, new characters and pictorial serials. They also invite guests to aid & abet those efforts by getting what\u2019s needful off their artistic chests, so it\u2019s now well past time you indulged their splendid efforts.
\n\"\"
\nThis year\u2019s model puts its foot down on the side of LAW & ORDER, proudly presenting old guard and new models (in Quarter, Half, Single and multi-page narrative outbreaks and graphic outbursts) all set between nostalgia-kicking covers by Julian Geek. Within, strangely fresh yet familiarly comforting fare nestles menacingly between full-colour poster-art homage frontispiece \u2018Beware! The Claws of the Cat!\u2019 <\/em>and closing apocalyptic vision \u2018Project Final X\u2019<\/em> – both from Jason Atomic.<\/p>\n

The interior trigger-edged, truncheon-terse treats unfold after the customary wild contents and introductory section, announcing the reserve forces of returning resident Ugly Mug contributors whilst welcoming new kids on the block Miranda Smart, Adam Falp & Dave Kilburn. The overall effect is shocking insights into \u201cthe causes of social collapse\u201d and a potent invitation to the final showdown of our kind…<\/p>\n

Stationed within and throughout are works by old lags of the House of Harley studio, seeking to keep things from spinning out of control with tales of enforced health like \u2018The Cancer Detection Dogs\u2019<\/em>, revealing what is \u2018Tender to the Touch\u2019<\/em> and exactly when \u2018Cometh the Hour\u2019 <\/em>or even a sharing a home visit from \u2018Dr. Anadi<\/em> (With Curses She is Handy<\/em>)\u2019<\/em>…<\/p>\n

\u2018Scatter\u2019<\/em> is a suburban probe into abandoned rental bikes, \u2018Seb, Superimposed\u2019<\/em> follows one woman\u2019s personal quest to be drunk and disorderly courtesy, as an extended cartoon chat exposes what happens \u2018While the City Slumbers\u2019<\/em>, and there\u2019s even a spot of recreational downtime in \u2018Let\u2019s Bake Up a Batch of Ugly Mugs\u2019<\/em>…<\/p>\n

Shorter call-ups to duty include further forays for Mark E Smith Music Teacher <\/em>(promoting plastic bags and work experience gigs whilst exposing The Truth about Taylor Swift), and more naked exposures via Life with Freda Nipple <\/em>(nudist, career woman, penal reformer, rag \u2018n\u2019 bone man nostalgist) as well as a Q&A on 2-tier policing with PCSO Dan<\/em> and Busy Lizzie<\/em> revealing what is not right about Woody Allen…<\/p>\n

Regular guest Ed Pinsent is much represented, pictorially prognosticating thanks to \u2018Hex Patterns\u2019<\/em>, tuning in on R.S.D. Laing, Record Collector<\/em> after \u2018He Suffers a Chemical Reaction\u2019<\/em>, exposing \u2018The Horrible Story of Monster Pig – and How He Became So Fat!\u2019 <\/em>before climaxing big with the ninth arcane instalment of Pinsent\u2019s beguiling \u2018Windy Wilberforce\u2019<\/em> serial The Saga of the Scroll<\/strong> (fear not, back issues of Ugly Mug<\/strong> are available to all with the wherewithal) as Harry Excess<\/em> finds fun and fish in the desert….<\/p>\n

Other contributions from those bearing visitor passes include Social Historian Gareth Corduroy<\/em> (AKA John Bagnall) unearthing the lost working class blessing of \u2018The Pit Pool\u2019<\/em>; a dose of abstract impressionist portraiture in Denny Derbyshire\u2019s \u2018Twin Peeks\u2019<\/em>; Julian Geek\u2019s controversial TV debate stance in \u2018321 with Mean Bean and Da Bug\u2019<\/em>; Miranda Smart\u2019s challenging tableau \u2018The Art of Complaining\u2019<\/em> and Adam Falp\u2019s vision of \u2018Seven Sisters Road\u2019<\/em> all counterpointed by Brazilian creator Alberto Monteiro \u2018Several Intense Scenes\u2019<\/em>…<\/p>\n

… And about us leprechauns pop up as Dave Kilburn offers contemporary Celtic mythology via a succession of scandalous exploits starring Irish fae folk The Leps<\/em><\/strong> (Seamus & Eamonn<\/em>, St Patrick<\/em>, His Lordship<\/em>, The Vulnerable Lord Cecil <\/em>and others), beginning with \u2018The Shillelagh of Temptation\u2019<\/em> and supplemented by an untitled boozing binge, a \u2018Mid-week drinking\u2019<\/em> session and a spot of bonfire building…
\n\"\"
\nInnocuously including and pointedly presenting \u201crobot dogs, radioactive popcorn, broken glass, canoodling couples, different kinds of dealers, stale beer & chips, ADHD, a black-&-white rainbow, pavement potholes, symbolic sheep, naked giants, shopping receipts, miracle cures, crime scene cakes, savage cabbage and the proverbial two birds with one stone\u201d, this doughty dossier delivers more racy, pacey fun fare than any British X-mas Annual of yore. These cunning creations teem with turbulent observation and force, and come armed to the nines with wryly witty visual oomph, making it the ideal example of where we will draw the line and leave our marks…<\/p>\n

Buy one. Read one. Do one yourself. You know you want to\u2026
\nAll contents \u00a9 their respective creators.<\/p>\n

Win\u2019s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Wild Fun and the Latest Last Word in Sheer Creativity Perfection\u2026 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

For all this and so much more please check out houseofharley.net\/shop<\/a> or their Etsy shop<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re still keen to embrace the dying embers of old world transactionalism, you can support enlightened capitalism and get a copy from a real world retailer like Gosh! Comics, London<\/a>.<\/p>\n

My spiffy review copy came with a bunch of extra goodies \u201cFrom the Sketchbooks of The House of Harley\u201d – Limited Edition minicomics Boat Race <\/strong>#1, Scratch An Itch<\/strong> #1 and Hands Up<\/strong> #1 – each offering even more contentious Comics & Improper art vouchsafing visual verve and vitality in strict monochrome and\/or assorted multi-hued palettes. Maybe yours will too; or perhaps it\u2019s simply that age and rank still hath their privileges…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By many and various anonymous aligned to The House of Harley, but particularly including Julian Geek, Denny Derbyshire, Ed Pinsent, Alberto Monteiro, John Bagnall, Dave Kilburn, Miranda Smart, Adam Falp & various (House of Harley) ISBN: 978-1-0669144-1 (A4 Card cover TPB) In these, my elderly end-times, a year goes by just like 365\u00bc days, which … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Ugly Mug Issue Nine”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[280,81,42,113,66,125,105,396,111,107,193],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-animal-antics","category-art-books","category-best-of-british","category-comedy","category-horror-stories","category-humour","category-mature-reading","category-monsters","category-satirepolitics","category-science-fiction","category-small-press-sundays"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-9v3","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36521"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36521\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36525,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36521\/revisions\/36525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}